Kate White on ‘The Wrong Man’

We can always count on former Cosmo editor-in-chief Kate White’s twisty thrillers to keep us up at night. She fills us in on her latest, The Wrong Man. Read it with the lights on!

The Wrong Man looks like every single woman’s worst fear: meetinga dream man who turns out to be a nightmare. Any tips for Cosmogirls who find themselves in similar situations?

Yes, extract yourself immediately. It will not get better. You will
not be able to change him. Once you’re on your own again, think back on traits of his that should have tipped you off from the start
(i.e.always running late, being oddly mysterious, acting possessive,
flirting with other women, that kind of thing) and see those as
warning signs for the future. Also, if you have had a string of bad
men in your life, bear in mind that you are the common denominator.
Try to determine what you are misjudging.

Your heroine, Kitt Finn, is one of Manhattan’s hottest interiordecorators. What kind of research did you do to make her careerrealistic…and was it hard to leave the magazine world behind forthis one?

Oh this was so much fun to research. I interviewed decorators, spent
time with them, wandered around many decorator showrooms, and read a ton of shelter magazines (so I wasn’t totally leaving magazines behind!). I had a bit of house envy by the time I was done. Best tip: if you end up with two shades of a color in a room that don’t quite work together, add a third shade of the color, and your eye will no longer mind.

What are three things you absolutely need to write?

A big flat desk with as little on it as possible; quiet (or some opera
playing that I’ve heard so much that it seems like white noise now);
and the clock to say 8:00 a.m. I can’t even get a sentence out late in
the day.

How do you find writing a novel compared to editing a magazine? Doyou prefer one format over the other?

I love both but they’re so different. Writing a novel is solitary and
very in your head. Editing a magazine is collaborative and outside
your head a lot of the time: meeting with staff, picking cover
clothes, meeting celebs who might be great cover girls at some point. I loved that part of my life but I really felt ready for a change. The writing life has been fantastic.

What books are currently sitting on your nightstand?

I’m half way through the second book in the Brigid Quinn series by Becky Masterman, Fear the Darkness. A great new series. Just downloaded the new Lisa Scottoline, Every Fifteen Minutes, which looks awesome. I always have a literary book going at the same time as mysteries and I’m just finishing up The City of Your Final Destination. It’s about Uruguay, where we have a home and spend part of the winter.

What can readers look forward to next from you?

I’m writing a new Bailey Weggins mystery and also a stand-alone about a woman who’s husband begins to scare her.